MONTREAL — Montreal. Quick. Name a Parks Canada site in Montreal. No googling. And no jokes about the National Historic Site Commemorating Where 18-Year-Old Ontarians First Came To Drink Legally.

Chances are, if you can name a park, it’s Mount Royal, that lovely green bump in the middle of the city, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (also designer of New York’s Central Park) and speckled with dubious 1970’s public art.

But Mount Royal is just a lowly city park. Not even a provincial park. And certainly not an exalted federal site.

It’s a funny thing about Parks Canada sites. They are everywhere, they are great, they are free (or, to be accurate, you already paid for them with your taxes) but, especially in urban areas, they can be oddly invisible. Look for ones in Toronto, you’ll be surprised.

This is the 125th anniversary of the founding of Parks Canada (first site was the hot springs in Banff). So let me take you by the hand and show you some of the Parks Canada sites in my hometown, Montreal.

If you’ve been to Montreal, you’ve probably already visited the first stop on our tour. In 1996, Blvd. Saint-Laurent (a.k.a. The Main) was declared a national historic site, in part because it is “a long-established place with a rich history set in a well-preserved urban network that has been adapted by various ethnocultural communities.”

In other words: great old buildings, dynamic global culture and hey, it’s where Montreal bagels come from (I suppose giving the designation just to the bagels would have seemed too obvious).

Blvd. Saint-Laurent is the traditional north-south divider through the middle of Montreal (it is also the literal divider — Montreal street numbers start here. So, 100 Ste. Catherine St. W. is a block west of Saint-Laurent and 100 Ste. Catherine St. E. is one block east of Saint-Laurent).

Historically, west of The Main was mainly settled by the English, east of it was settled by the French. The Main itself was a buffer zone, home to overlapping waves of Jewish, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and other new immigrants. As each wave swelled, prospered, and receded to the suburbs, it left behind markers — Jewish smoked meat diners, Portuguese rotisseries, Greek fish restaurants, Italian cafés.

Walking the street is like eating your way though Montreal history. The Main has to be one of Canada’s tastiest national historic sites.

That means you might want to get a bit of exercise after visiting. So, let’s head down to the Lachine Canal National Historic Site. The 14.5-kilometre long canal pumped commerce through Montreal and into Canada.

This Victorian engineering workhorse opened in 1825, allowing ships to bypass the treacherous Lachine rapids that blocked easy passage up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes. It also provided hydropower. Industry sprang up along the canal, and railway spurs spread like vines.

Once the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, it wasn’t long before the canal fell into disrepair. It closed in 1970 and became a favourite last resting spot for various disreputable bits and pieces people didn’t want found. Or, at least, not found on them. Splash! All gone.

Slowly, the old canal-side warehouses transformed into trendy lofts. Artists moved into the industrial spaces. And in 2002 the canal reopened — to pleasure boats. Today you can rent a paddleboat and putter along with views of the downtown skyscrapers. Look down into the mud of the canal though, and you might see even more interesting relics.

The protected, leafy bike paths that line the canal are also a good place to try out Montreal’s Bixi bikes. Bixi, the grab n’ go public bike system that is heading to Toronto soon, started in Montreal.

Bixi takes registration and a credit card and is really designed to get from A to B, not to lounge around. But it’s hard to beat the convenience. There are bike pickup stations at one end of the canal in Old Montreal, and one by the Atwater Market, a farmer’s market by the canal that is a perfect picnic spot (get your bread from Première Moisson, cheese from La Fromagerie Atwater, and libations from the SAQ — though don’t libate and bike).

Cleo Paskal is a Montreal-based freelance writer. Her column usually appears the second Saturday of the month.

Just the facts

The prize for the most unexpected Parks Canada site in Montreal goes to the Royal Montreal Curling Club, North America’s oldest curling club, established in 1807. It was declared a National Historic Event in 1954.

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